As it happened: WA news on Thursday, March 26

Updated March 26, 2026 — 7:21pm,first published March 26, 2026 — 10:56am

7.21pm on Mar 26, 2026

Today’s headlines

We’re bringing our live blog to a close for the day, thank you for joining us.

Here’s a recap of some of the day’s headlines:

Predicted heavy weather from Tropical Cyclone Narelle has prompted Dementia Australia to postpone its Perth Memory Walk and Jog that was scheduled to take place on Sunday.
West Coast Eagles coach Andrew McQualter says his side has learnt important lessons from it pre-season match against Port Adelaide as the two teams are set to clash on Sunday.
The Pilbara’s mining industry could face its first industrial action in 40 years with the Electrical Trade Union threatening to strike if a deal to improve pay for up to 60 BHP workers is not reached.
Basketball Australia chief executive Matt Scriven says he has spoken to former Wildcat Bryce Cotton about playing for the Boomers in the team’s first international match in Western Australia since 2019.
Curtin University has been forced to postpone its Open Day, which was scheduled for Sunday, as Tropical Cyclone Narelle makes its way down the WA coast.
Severe tropical cyclone Narelle is intensifying offshore with damaging to destructive wind gusts and heavy falls increasing for parts of the Pilbara with the system expected to increase to a category four cyclone, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
A Batik Air flight from Bali to Perth was diverted to Geraldton on Wednesday night after four attempts to land at Perth Airport were called off due to strong winds.
A survey of hundreds of regional WA businesses has found many operators are debating whether it is even worth opening at all as the fuel crisis continues to deepen.

Thank you again for tuning in today – we’ll see you back here tomorrow for more news you need to know.

6.53pm on Mar 26, 2026

Dementia Australia postpones WA walking events over weather safety

Predicted heavy weather from Tropical Cyclone Narelle has prompted Dementia Australia to postpone its Perth Memory Walk and Jog that was scheduled to take place on Sunday.

The Bunbury Memory Walk and Jog event planned for Saturday at Back Beach in the South West city has also been postponed.

It follows on from Curtin University cancelling it Open Day on Sunday due to similar weather concerns.

In a statement, Dementia Australia said its number-one priority was the safety of all participants, staff and volunteers.

“Our goal for Memory Walk & Jog is to have a fun-filled and safe community event supporting people impacted by dementia,” the statement read.

“The decision to postpone has not been taken lightly, and we are thankful for everything everyone has done so far in raising funds and getting ready for 2026 Memory Walk & Jog.”

6.40pm on Mar 26, 2026

Eagles prepared for early start to Power clash

West Coast Eagles coach Andrew McQualter says his side has learnt important lessons from it pre-season match against Port Adelaide as the two teams are set to clash on Sunday.

The Power recorded a comfortable 73-point victory over West Coast when the two sides met at Mineral Resources Park late last month.

West Coast Eagles head coach Andrew McQualter.AFL Photos

McQualter said the Eagles learned important lessons from the pre-season fixture that will help them this week.

“We clearly weren’t at our best that day, but there were still parts of the game we quite liked,” he said.

“We had 30-odd front-half turnovers but let them score too easily. Whether you win or lose, you learn lessons, and our job is to implement them.”

McQualter said the team had prepared for an earlier than usual match on Sunday with the game set to kick off at 9.30am WA time.

“We’re probably fortunate because we played two or three of our pre-season matches at that time anyway, so our guys are pretty accustomed to getting up early and performing.

“We’ll go over tomorrow and have a couple of days to get our body clock sorted.

“We’ve been doing that already this week. It’s part of preparation of AFL footy.”

6.26pm on Mar 26, 2026

Pilbara electrical workers threaten strike action over pay dispute

The Pilbara’s mining industry could face its first industrial action in 40 years with the Electrical Trade Union threatening to strike if a deal to improve pay for up to 60 BHP workers is not reached.

Electrical Trade Union state secretary Adam Woodage said the strike threat is over wage discrepancies among the current workforce, and have taken the historic step of voting for protected industrial action.

“That’s what’s caused us to get to this point of our members wanting an enterprise agreement and wanting to have an equal, level playing field,” he said at a press conference on Thursday.

“The Electrical Trade Union has filed for a protected action. Our members have voted on that protected action and have endorsed proceeding.”

Woodage said the potential strike action at BHP could be extended to other operations in the region.

5.44pm on Mar 26, 2026

Could Cotton return to Perth as a Boomer?

By Hamish Hastie

Basketball Australia chief executive Matt Scriven says he has spoken to former Wildcat Bryce Cotton about playing for the Boomers in the team’s first international match in Western Australia since 2019.

Cotton became an Australian citizen in September, making him eligible to play for the Boomers after an illustrious career for the Wildcats, which saw him become a six-time NBL MVP.

On Thursday, the WA government announced it had secured two world cup qualifying matches in July against Guam and the Philippines in the middle of the NBL off-season.

Scriven said he had spoken to Cotton and “there’s definitely intention”.

4.38pm on Mar 26, 2026

Curtin cancels open day over cyclone concerns

By Holly Thompson

Curtin University has been forced to postpone its Open Day, which was scheduled for Sunday, as Tropical Cyclone Narelle makes its way down the WA coast.

In a statement, the university revealed more than 25,000 people had been expected to attend.

“Given the expected conditions, the university is not able to safely set up, prepare for or deliver the event,” the statement read.

Curtin University chief strategy and marketing officer Dr Marco Schultheis said the decision was not taken lightly.

“Curtin’s Open Day is the largest in Western Australia and we know it’s something thousands of families plan around,” he said.

3.26pm on Mar 26, 2026

Narelle set to increase to category four cyclone: BoM

Severe tropical cyclone Narelle is intensifying offshore with damaging to destructive wind gusts and heavy falls increasing for parts of the Pilbara with the system expected to increase to a category four cyclone, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.

BoM meteorologist Ilana Cherny said the system has brought some significant wind gusts to the area over the past 24 hours.

The latest track map showing Narelle’s planned path.Bureau of Meteorology

“Looking forward, what we’re expecting today is that the system will continue to track southwest, offshore, and eventually intensify into a category four system,” she said.

“We’re also going to see some increased coastal impact with some storm tide developing, and so those hazards are expected to develop about Port Hedland and Karratha over the next few hours, and extending south and west to Exmouth and Coral Bay later today.

“Some of those strongest wind gusts are expected about the Exmouth and Northwest Cape areas later today.”

Cherny said the cyclone is expected to travel further south during Friday and Saturday.

“So Carnarvon during Friday morning, extending down to Denham and Kalbarri during Friday and then into Geraldton and surrounds into Saturday morning,” she said.

“So the system will curve around the Exmouth coast as a category four system, before hugging the Gascoyne coast and eventually crossing the coast and continuing south-eastwards as it tracks inland, eventually weakening it to a tropical low.”

Cherny said the bureau expects the system to cross the coast around Friday evening.

“We are expecting this system to cross as a category three severe tropical cyclone,” she said.

Rainfall is going to be a significant hazard over the next couple of days across much of the western (part of), Western Australia.

“So we do have a flood watch current for a large area extending from about Exmouth down to the Swan River near Perth.”

2.33pm on Mar 26, 2026

Energy Minister says 40 WA fuel stations are out of diesel

By Nick Newling

Energy Minister Chris Bowen has provided a daily update on the number of petrol stations running out of fuel, as he has been requested to do every day this week.

State-by-state breakdown of outages

Western Australia - 40 stations are without diesel, 14 have no unleaded fuel.
New South Wales - 178 stations are without diesel, 48 are completely dry.
Queensland - 55 stations are without diesel, 33 have no regular unleaded,
Victoria - 45 stations are without diesel, 72 have no unleaded fuel.
South Australia - 9 stations are without diesel, 10 have no unleaded fuel.
Tasmania - 5 stations are without diesel, 9 have another supply issue.
Northern Territory - there are zero fuel supply issues, however some stations may be impacted by natural disaster.
Australian Capital Territory - 2 stations have no diesel, 1 has no unleaded. Bowen noted that outages in the ACT are often rectified “within an hour”.

Bowen said he would continue to provide updates to Australian people as he receives them.

1.41pm on Mar 26, 2026

Bali-Perth flight diverted to Geraldton after strong winds hamper landing

By Cameron Myles

A Batik Air flight from Bali to Perth was diverted to Geraldton on Wednesday night after four attempts to land at Perth Airport were called off due to strong winds.

The flight was due to arrive at 9.45pm, but a Perth Airport spokeswoman said the pilot made the call to fly to Geraldton to refuel after strong winds hampered the landing attempt.

It made for a late night for passengers, with the detour eventually bringing them back to Perth by about 3.45am on Thursday.

The Perth Airport spokeswoman said there had been about 38 flights to WA’s north cancelled as of Thursday morning due to Tropical Cyclone Narelle, which is currently barrelling down the Pilbara coast, having been resurrected in waters off the north-west after traversing the top of the nation.

The spokeswoman recommended passengers check with their airlines regarding their flight status before making their way to the airport.

1.34pm on Mar 26, 2026

War time fuel surcharges and fuel drive-offs plague regional WA in new survey

By Hannah Murphy

A survey of hundreds of regional WA businesses has found many operators are debating whether it is even worth opening at all as the fuel crisis continues to deepen.

The survey, held by the Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western Australia, ran over a week, and received over 400 responses from businesses across agriculture, tourism and fisheries outside of Perth’s CBD.

It did not encapsulate the Pilbara and Kimberley, due to their own development commissions conducting their own surveys.

The RCCIWA said it found 78 per cent of businesses surveyed had already felt the impact of the sky-high price and 81 per cent said their fuel cost had gone up by nearly two thirds in recent weeks.

The survey said many agriculture businesses were re-thinking their plans ahead of the usual April seeding program, and were either scaling back or cancelling it completely due to the uncertainty.

Just under a third of businesses said they had been forced to stand down employees due to cancelled jobs, an inability to travel or prohibitive costs.

About 40 per cent of businesses reported being impacted by cancellations for planned jobs, while some tourism businesses said they had seen a number of cancellations.

Tourism operators told the survey they were expecting their “lowest Easter numbers in over 10 years”.

“One business reported that one of their suppliers added a ‘War Time Fuel Surcharge’ on their invoice which is incredibly concerning,” the survey’s key findings said.

“RCCIWA has not seen this level of anxiety, business uncertainty and stress since the onset and first two years of COVID-19.

“This is a fast-moving issue and the escalation of the impact it is having on regional businesses and their communities is alarming. We are also seeing concerning patterns of behaviour in some regional areas such as stockpiling, price gouging, abusive behaviour towards service-station employees and fuel theft.

“Many of our respondents are confused by the current situation and do not know where to go to get accurate and correct information.

“The further complication of Cyclone Narelle travelling down the coast of Western Australia is also adding high anxiety for the thousands of people and businesses who will be relying on diesel-fuelled generators if the power supply is cut.”

The survey made a number of recommendations, and said farmers needed to be prioritised in any government response.

Key recommendations included capping fuel prices for essential services and sectors, increasing fuel tax credits, providing grants to regional businesses to offset the impact, and ensuring all communication is clear and timely.